Book detail

SILENT KILLS

A vampire is loose in New York City.  Not the usual kind, with fangs and a long black cape:  this vampire uses modern medical technology to drain the blood of his victims.  When a young woman is found in Van Cortland Park, in the East Tremont section of the Bronx, Chuck Morton calls in his old friend Lee Campbell to help profile the unusual killer.  The primary detective on the case is veteran Bronx Detective Leonard Butts, who inherited the case from a colleague who had a sudden family crisis.  Hampered by the fact that they never saw the original crime scene, Lee and Butts struggle to put together the pieces of what is proving to be a very odd puzzle.

It is obvious at once to everyone that this is the work of a serial offender in the making.  The bizarre nature of the crime, coupled with its undeniably ritualistic elements, can mean only one thing:  the Van Cortland Vampire will strike again.  The only question is how soon?

As the first anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Lee struggles to rekindle his relationship with Kathy Azarian – a struggle made more difficult by the unwelcome attention of Chuck’s glamorous and rapacious wife, Susan Morton, who never stopped carrying a torch for Lee.  And when the brilliant but moody Elena Krieger is assigned to the case, things become even more complicated.  Her expertise in forensic linguistics is vital to decoding the lyrics of the Steampunk music the killer is obsessed with – but her presence on the case threatens to derail the investigation when she is suspected of being the source of a damaging leak to the local media.

When another victim turns up, the case takes on an added urgency, and the team races against the clock – and against a killer who seems very much to have the upper hand.